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Ask any Sega fan and he or she will tell you - this one is long overdue. The official (and by "official," we mean sanctioned by the video game maker) Sega emulator is headed for the iPhone next month. Sega's Ultimate Genesis will take vintage video game lovers on a stroll down memory lane with this new offering that has excited gaming enthusiasts young and old - but mostly old.

A new app, due the first week of February, will let you hold the game publisher's legacy in your hand. The Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection will launch for free with the game Space Harrier II. Inside the app -- or sold separately for older iPhones -- are other games Sonic the Hedgehog ($5.99), Golden Axe ($4.99), Ecco the Dolphin($2.99) and Shining Force ($2.99).

Yes, all the classics will be there. And published reports indicate that more will soon become a part of this "ultimate collection." While some fans are calling this sanctioned release a "miracle," others suspected that it was only a matter of time before the video game maker stepped up to do for itself what it wouldn't let others do on its behalf. Gizmodo puts it this way:

Apple's finicky about emulators in the App Store, but most of the candidates have been unofficial, and dubiously legal. Sega's Ultimate Genesis, though, is official, and looks like a full virtual console for your iPhone.

Although many of the games lumped into this new collector's package haven't necessarily been missing in action, Sega fans now have a centralized location to serve as their video game time machine and venture back to the bygone era of video gaming enjoyed amidst leg warmers, new episodes of Alf, and bedroom walls adorned with "Back to The Future" posters.

Ultimate Genesis is really just a new way to package old apps, and a focused sales channel for new ones. But that's exactly what a Virtual Console-style emulator is! And why this is a fantastic idea.